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November 22, 2007

A Favorite Thanksgiving Story

Growing up, Thanksgiving was always at our house. My cousin (an only child) and her parents would visit. My sister and cousin and I would make everyone wear pilgrim and Indian hats. We would eat way too much and sit around and tell stories and laugh.

And watch football. Not just on TV, but real life, local football, outside in the cold or rain before we went home and ate our feast. In our town there was an annual, rival high school, last game of the season, showdown. It was called the East - West game after the nicknames for the two teams. In 1980, my brother was captain of the football team for East.

We were all looking forward to the game, as we had for years, but this time it was huge. The biggest game my brother had ever played in. We all loved watching him play and couldn't wait to support him in the big game. We planned our color coordinated outfits and made yarn pom-poms for our hair.

And then my sister (who was 15 and a cheerleader), my cousin (who was 13) and I (who was 12) had a fantastic idea. We would surprise my brother by making signs and decorating the hallway with pep, like the cheerleaders did in the locker room. He would see it as he was leaving early in the morning before any of us were awake. It would get him all psyched up for the game. We were geniuses and such little sisters. This was the height of excitement for us!

We kept our idea secret, making the signs and decorations the day before in the basement. That night, we sneaked (I thought the past tense of sneak was snuck until now when I realized snuck is not a word!) downstairs and put up all of our carefully made pep-rally materials. Then went to bed happy, knowing how excited my brother would be to see the fabulous display we had made. We were sure it would help him play better and win the big game.

The next morning, we woke up and ran downstairs to see what had happened when my brother had left earlier. My parents greeted us with angry faces. They had removed the signs we made. We were shocked. What was going on?

They were mad that we had put scotch tape up on the walls (could pull the paint off) and my brother was irritated with the display (it broke his focus). But worst of all, and what I will never forget, is that amidst the "Go Teams!" and "Get Psyched!" signs, there was a sign that said "West Sucks!".

Oh the horror! My parents thought the sign was disgusting. They couldn't believe that we had used the term "sucks". What terrible language! Didn't we know what that meant? Or, more like, how could we know what that meant?

We had no idea, and I mean no idea, why they were so offended. Didn't the saying "sucks" simply mean the other person or team was no good? Apparently not. I felt like we had ruined this important Thanksgiving, but didn't understand why. They kept shaking their heads at us.

We laugh about this now, of course. How we could have been so innocent and it went awry. I think my parents made way too big of a deal out of this. So much so that we probably learned why they found the term so offensive quicker than we would have if they had just blown it off (oops there I go again, I mean brushed it off).

Anyway, this story always makes me chuckle at this time of year. I love Thanksgiving. I like that the whole point is to get together with family and eat and relax. It is a non-religious holiday that almost everyone in this great country celebrates.

This year I am grateful for so many things:

My wonderful family (husband, kids and relatives).

That I am 39 and wiser, stronger and happier than I've ever been.

That we have more than we need.

That my life is very full.

And probably most of all this year, I am grateful for this opportunity to write here. To share my life and struggles. To have old and new friends who read and comment. And for those of you who write, too. For this amazing community. Thank-you.

Lori-thank you for sharing this story-it was very interesting and cute! I also hate the word sucks and Dallas just used it the other day and my reaction was the same as your parents!
Happy Thanksgving-I agree-we all have so much to be thankful for-too much to put into writing!